Author Archive

Sarah Ann Coffin

Sarah is an undergraduate student at California State University, Monterey Bay. In fall 2017, she will graduate with a BA in Psychology and a minor in Statistics. After graduation, Sarah plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Social Psychology to further study how psychological concepts can be applied to encourage environmental care. By understanding what encourages individual environmental concern, Sarah hopes to provide communities with effective methods to promote daily environmentally friendly behaviors and overall improved environmental care. After gaining experience in the field, Sarah looks forward to returning to the university system as a professor in psychology.

It amazes me the rate at which humans are capable of adapting. In just one week, I have made the trek from a life on one central coast to the next. I write to you now in California from my new balcony in Monterey. I had a wonderful move-in crew (my family) to help me […]

In a flurry of completing my materials for our final symposium, I have sorely neglected my blog. Perhaps it was for the best, as the past few days have brought with them a bright and cheery outlook. Tomorrow is the big day! By noon my fellow Sea Grant scholars and I will have gathered at […]

There is nothing I love more than a new perspective. My most recent shift came in the form of a text from my best friend Mahala, with whom I’ve been inseparable since junior high school. Knowing that she has always dreamed of starting a family of her own, I was not surprised to open my […]

What do you think of when you hear the word “conservation”? Do you approach it in the biological sense, as a need for sustainability of resources to continue to survive? Or perhaps see it through a historical lens, with images of colorfully clad activists of the ‘70s with ideals of peace and love? The word […]

So it goes. Vonnegut’s wise words have followed me to the southern coast this weekend for my first work trip out in the field. For the past few days, Oregon State University graduate Katie and I have visited over one hundred houses in attempts to administer surveys. Our goal in this study is to assess […]

Kohlberg In the early 1950s, graduate student Lawrence Kohlberg became inspired by the works of a clinical psychologist named Jean Piaget. With the help of Piaget’s foundational theory, Kohlberg proposed a series of six stages that would one day be taught in every introductory psychology course. If you have taken one of these courses, you […]

Port Orford This week was a testament to the value of human interaction. We began our escapades at the dock of Port Orford in southern Oregon. Three coolers of burger patties, rockfish, and Coca-Colas later, we had ourselves a barbecue! After a mad dash for pastries and slaw, the Marine Reserves team from the Oregon […]

Let’s Begin with an Exercise… Look up from your screen and observe the things around you. As I do so myself, it is not difficult to estimate the market value of the couch, rug, and even the land on which my cabin resides. If I were to have a yard sale tomorrow, each item could […]